WINTON

Winton Motor Carriage Co. (1896-1915)
Winton Motor Car Co. (1915-1924)
Cleveland, Ohio 

This is a Winton Six radiator emblem (1914-1915)    mjs
Size: 53mm diameter  MM: Robbins

Alexander Winton emigrated from Scotland to America in 1884 and established the Winton Bicycle Company in Cleveland in 1891. In 1896 Winton built an experimental single-cylinder automobile and in March 1897 he organized the Winton Motor Carriage Company. The second Winton was a 10 hp two-cylinder model, which Alexander Winton drove at a speed of 33.64mph around the Glenville horse-racing track, an incredible speed at the time. In the summer of 1897 in another two-cylinder Winton together with William Hatcher he drove from Cleveland to New York City, another astonishing feat at the time.

The first Winton was sold in March 1898 and by the end of 1898 a total of 22 Winton cars had been sold and 100 cars were sold in 1899. In the spring of 1899 Alexander Winton had driven another Winton to New York City, this time with a newspaper reporter, Charles Shanks. This event gave wide publicity to Winton and popularized the word "automobile" for the horseless carriage, which had previously been called "autobain" and "motorcycle".

In October 1901 Winton was beaten in a car race by Henry Ford at Grosse Pointe race track but Winton then built his famous Bullet racers. In January 1904, Barney Oldfield drove Bullet 2 at Daytona Beach and broke the record for a mile at 83.7mph. In 1903 Dr Nelson Jackson and Sewell Croker drove a Winton across America from San Francisco to New York. Winton sales increased from 700 in 1901 to 1,100 by 1907. Winton introduced four-cylinder models in 1905 with sizes from 16/20 hp to 40/50 hp and after 1907 all Wintons were six-cylinder models.

Winton is credited with building the first truck in America, a light delivery van that was completed in 1898. A small number of commercial vehicles were built by Winton up to 1906 using passenger car chassis. 

In 1915 the company was reorganized as the Winton Motor Car Company and a lower priced six was introduced. Winton production for 1916 was 2,458 cars. Winton was very busy supplying the US military with heavy equipment and some load carriers during the First World War and was in good shape after the war.

But Winton cars were too expensive for the market. Sales fell and by 1922 the company was in financial difficulties and in 1923 Alexander Winton liquidated the company at great cost to himself. It was all over for Winton by 1924.

Emblems

The first Winton motor cars from 1898 displayed the "Winton" name on cast metal sill plates, see example shown below:

This is a Winton sill plate (1899)    laam

There appears to have been a change in the Winton sill plate design by 1903, see example shown below:

This is a Winton sill plate (1903)    cccmlc

The following 1904 Winton advertisement uses a shield surmounted by a crown to extol the quality of manufacture used by Winton.

Winton advertisement (1904)   ms

The same shield and crown was used for a Winton combined serial plate and patent plate, see examples shown below: 

This shows a Winton serial/patent plate (1904)   laam

This is the red and black painted brass Winton combined serial/patent plate shown below. This Winton serial/patent plate is rare.

This is a Winton serial/patent plate (c1905)    mjs
Size: 78mm high 53mm wide

The "Winton" name was also displayed on the hubcaps, se example shown below:

This is a Winton hubcap (1904)     laam

The following photo shows a surviving Winton car displaying the "Winton" name on a brass script attached to the radiator. Although this script is seen on other surviving Winton cars, original period photos of Winton cars do not show any radiator script in 1906 but it is possible that a radiator script was used on some Winton cars as an after market accessory. It is also possible that these radiator scripts were added later during restoration.

Winton car showing radiator script (1906) carphoto

In 1909, the Winton had a brass radiator emblem mounted in the front of the radiator tank top, see example photos shown below:

Winton cars at the New York Auto Show (1909)    dpl

This is a Winton radiator with emblem (c1909)    hcg

Close-up showing radiator emblem (c1909)     hcg

This is a Winton radiator emblem (1909-1911)    sam

Original examples of this painted brass Winton radiator emblem are extremely rare.

The following, poor quality but, original period photo shows a Winton car taken during the 1909 Munsey Reliability Run with the radiator emblem shown above and a "Winton" script attached low down on the radiator core:

Winton car showing a radiator script (1909)    dpl

The same "Winton" radiator script is seen in the following photo of a surviving 1909 Winton Model 17:

Winton Model 17 showing radiator script (1909)  conceptcarz

This is the brass "Winton" radiator script shown below. I do not know for how long this radiator script was a factory product. Surviving Winton cars are seen to carry this radiator script up to the mid-1920's but these are likely to be later additions attached during restoration. Original Winton radiator scripts are scarce.

This is a Winton radiator script (1909-c1912)     mjs
Size: 304mm wide 80mm high

From about 1911, the Winton carried a round radiator emblem. However, there are several different Winton radiator emblems, which are difficult to date, due to the lack of original period photos and the use of incorrect emblems during the restoration of some surviving Winton cars. 

The dates I have used in the following examples are speculative and based on examples of surviving Winton cars. If you have details of the correct dates of use, please let me know, in order to update this post.

The following is a photo of a surviving 1912 Winton Six with a radiator emblem:

This is a Winton Six with a radiator emblem (1912)  bonhams

This emblem is the blue, pale blue and white enamel Winton Six radiator emblem shown below. This Winton Six radiator emblem is very rare.

This is a Winton Six radiator emblem (c1912)   tcc
Size: 54mm diameter    MM: None

The following Winton Six emblem seen on eBay is the same design as the emblem shown above but is listed as having a smaller diameter but I cannot confirm the accuracy of this dimension:

This is a Winton Six radiator emblem (c1912)  ebay
Size: 48mm diameter   MM: Unknown

The following Winton Six radiator emblem uses a different style of lettering for the "Winton" name. This Winton Six radiator emblem is also very rare. 

This is a Winton Six radiator emblem (c1911-1912)   mjs
Size: 54mm diameter    MM: Unknown 

The following is a Winton Six hubcap showing the same design as the earlier radiator emblem:

This is a Winton Six hubcap (1912)    bonhams

The following is a photo of a surviving 1915 Winton Six with a different radiator emblem:

Winton Six with a radiator emblem (1915)  northeastwheelsevents

This emblem is the green and white enamel Winton Six radiator emblem shown above at the top of this post and again below. This Wilton Six radiator emblem is very rare.

This is a Winton Six radiator emblem (1914-1915)    mjs
Size: 53mm diameter    MM: Robbins

The following photo shows another radiator emblem on a surviving 1917 Winton Six:

This is a Winton Six emblem (1917)    hatm

This is the blue and white enamel Winton Six radiator emblem shown below. This Winton Six radiator emblem is very rare.

This is a Winton Six radiator emblem (c1917-1922)    ms
Size: Unknown    MM: Unknown

A smaller version of this Winton Six emblem is found on the hubcaps, see example shown below:

This is a Winton Six hub emblem (c1919)     ms

From around 1916, the Winton Six-33 carried a round, plated brass radiator emblem, sometimes finished painted in black, see example shown below:

This is a Winton Six radiator emblem (1916)    rmsothebys

The Winton six carrying the above radiator emblem had wire wheels with the following hub emblem:

This is a Winton Six wire-wheel hub emblem (1916)  rmsothebys

Where wire-wheels were not used, the Winton Six hub emblem was the same as the radiator emblem, see example shown below:

This is a Winton Six hubcap (1917)    conceptcarz

The following are examples of different nickel plated Winton Six radiator emblems from the period from about 1916 to 1924. These Winton six radiator emblems are rare, although the first example below is unique, as it is from the 1922 Winton Six touring car used by President Harding when he visited Alaska in 1923:

This is the President Harding Winton Six radiator emblem (1922)  mjs
Size: 47mm diameter   MM: Unknown

This is a Winton Six radiator emblem (date uncertain)  mjs
Size: 47mm diameter    MM: Unknown

This is a Winton Six radiator emblem (date uncertain)  mjs
Size: 41mm diameter   MM: D L Auld

This is a Winton Six radiator emblem (date uncertain)  mjs
Size: 38mm diameter   MM: D L Auld

This is a Winton Six radiator emblem (date uncertain)   mjs
Size: 38mm diameter    MM: Unknown

The following emblem is a mystery. It appears to be very similar to a Winton Six radiator emblem but what is the "DAW"? If you can identify this emblem, please let me know, in order to update this post.

This is a mystery emblem       mjs
Size: 47mm diameter   MM: Unknown